Maritzburg Utd are serious title contenders

[Posted 13 Oct 2011][By Beezsports Editor]

Maritzburg United coach Ian Palmer has been instilling a winning mentality in his team ever since he took over from Ernst Middendorp, finishing the 2010/2011 season strongly. United started the new season brightly, are 3rd on the log and remain unbeaten after seven games, and it is not an exageration to state that they are serious title contenders this time around.

Coach Palmer's efforts at the helm of Maritzburg have not gone unnoticed, and he was this week named as Coach of the Month for September after guiding his modest KZN-based club to probably their best run ever in the league.

Under Palmer this season, Maritzburg have won three, and drawn four out of the seven matches played thus far in the league, and have just climbed to 3rd position on the ABSA Premier Soccer League.

Only Supersport United are the other team in the PSL to have avoided defeat so far in the season. The two teams will face each other this weekend, and a win for any team will leave the PSL with only one undefeated club.

Both clubs have been using a razor-sharp strategy whether playing at home or on the road, patiently picking up points to emerge in the top three only after seven matches.

Supersport appear to have better depth to last the distance in the league, whereas little Maritzburg rely on certain individual players, and injuries to key stars might destabilise the team's current fairytale form.

The Pretoria-based club's Malawian striker Atusaye Nyondo has been named alongside Palmer as Player of the Month for the same period, after scoring four goals in seven games.

The former Carara Kicks striker, who finished as the National First Division's top striker last season and Plamer, walked away with R10 000 for their efforts and will have a chance to donate a playing kit to a school soccer team of their choice.